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Labour must focus on apprenticeship completion rates

Sir Keir Starmer’s pledge last week that a future Labour government will work to ensure vocational training holds the same prestige as academic courses is crucial. But changing people’s attitudes towards vocational routes such as apprenticeships counts for little if apprentices fail to complete their training.

Against the economically tumultuous backdrop of the cost-of-living crisis, an average apprenticeship offers a mere £5.28 an hour. While this number has gradually risen from £4.81 in March 2022, this approximate nine per cent increase does little to support apprentices under pressure from the 16.9 per cent increase in the cost of food and non-alcoholic beverages that occurred in the lead up to December 2022. Apprenticeships are therefore becoming less appealing and in some cases even unsustainable. Many are dropping out to start jobs where the minimum wage is higher.

Last year, and in a throw-back to the target-driven, top-down system of government that became the hallmark of New Labour, then-minister for skills and apprenticeships, Alex Burghart announced an ambitious new 67 per cent target completion rate for apprenticeships.

Despite the target, completion rates continue to go in the wrong direction. Recent figures put them at 53 per cent – down from 58 per cent in 2019/20. Apprenticeship starts have also plummeted by over 160,000 in absolute terms since 2015/16. So, there are fewer going in, and even fewer coming out.

Various factors catalyse low completion rates, but a major factor is undoubtedly the apprenticeship minimum wage. For example, the current £5.28 an hour apprenticeship salary compares poorly to an entry-level hourly wage of £11.02 at Tesco.

Adding fuel to the fire, some employers even fail to pay that. One in five (21 per cent) of the 202 employers named and shamed by the government for breaching minimum wage laws in 2022-23 additionally failed to pay their apprentices the lowest rate.

Last week, the government missed an open goal to incentivise employers to pay more by omitting apprenticeship wages from its annual league table of the ‘top 100 apprenticeship employers’. Thus, with the cost of living spiralling, many apprentices are instead lured away by the prospect of more lucrative work elsewhere.

But while apprentices should be paid more, they must also do all they can to complete their training. Dropouts are hugely frustrating for employers and providers alike. Not only does their hard work go to waste, it also negatively impacts completion rates.

Apprentices are lured away by the prospect of more lucrative work elsewhere

Often, employers are too lenient in granting apprentices leave from their apprenticeship. The learner’s subsequent failure to return to their training is also a driver behind low completion rates. For apprenticeships to hold the same parity of esteem as academic routes, they should be subject to similar expectations in terms of attendance and processes for requesting leave as other educational courses.

Employers and providers must also provide their apprentices with an effective support structure. We have found that providing additional support for our apprentices with issues such as mental health helps to reduce the rate of absence. As a result, we have a lower-than-average dropout rate.

The final issue that deters people from starting and completing apprenticeships is the 12-month minimum duration. Heralded by ministers as a way of introducing greater rigour to the system, the reality is that it’s led to the unnecessary extension of important but low-paid apprenticeships in areas such as hospitality. At the same time, the policy has created the false impression to some businesses that more technical training can be completed in 12 months.

The duration of apprenticeships should be less uniform and instead adapted to the needs of the industry’s technical requirements and those of the skill itself.

There is no silver bullet to addressing the high apprenticeship dropout rate. Instead, the solution requires a coordinated effort by government, employers, providers and learners alike.

Whoever is in power, we’ll have to go way beyond a 67 per cent completion rate before we can even begin to talk about the long dreamed-of parity of esteem. But by having a wholesale review of pay, conditions and minimum duration periods, and by introducing a greater support structure for learners, I’m confident this goal is an achievable one.

Academy trust boss set for Ofsted chief inspector role

Academy trust boss Sir Martyn Oliver is set to be named the next chief inspector of Ofsted, it is understood.

Oliver, who leads Outwood Grange Academies Trust (OGAT), has been named the preferred candidate by education secretary Gillian Keegan, but his appointment is still to be ratified by Number 10, the Sunday Times reported.

Oliver had been the frontrunner for the role alongside fellow trust boss Sir Ian Bauckham.

Oliver leads one of the country’s most successful trusts in turning around failing schools in deprived areas, many of which are now ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ – some for the first time in their history.

The trust has also led on helping schools become more efficient and is one of four that founded the flagship National Institute of Teaching.

Exclusion rate and isolation use criticised

However, the appointment is also likely to prove controversial.

OGAT’s zero-tolerance approach to behaviour has been criticised: from its schools’ high exclusion rates to facing a legal challenge over its use of isolation booths. A pupil claimed they had spent almost a third of their time at school in isolation.

FE Week’s sister title Schools Week also first revealed the trust had run “flattening the grass” assemblies where ex-teachers said pupils were shouted at and humiliated.

Oliver himself also sat on the government commission on race, led by Sir Tony Sewell, which was widely criticised for underplaying racism.

OGAT boss criticised curriculum-focus inspections

Oliver, who was knighted for services to education last year, was also highly critical of current chief inspector Amanda Spielman’s new inspections.

He was one of a handful of leading CEOs who said the switch in focus from exam results to curriculum would favour middle-class children.

Schools Week revealed in 2019 many schools under the new inspections had been criticised for starting GCSEs in year 9.

Oliver said at the time that inspectors were taking a “far too simplistic a view on when GCSE teaching should begin. Many of the children in our schools need a three-year run up.

“They don’t have books at home and space for homework. All that has to happen in school time and disproportionately their life chances come from qualifications.”

‘Schools transformed by OGAT’

Once the government has named its preferred candidate, they will appear before the education committee which makes its own recommendation on the appointment.

A spokesperson for OGAT said: “In our trust are schools in areas of high deprivation which had been under-performing for years and were some of the most challenging in the system when we took them on.

“These schools have been transformed by OGAT. They now provide students with a great education and the best chance to lead successful lives. Our schools have never been so popular with parents and local authorities have expanded several of them so they can take even more students.”

A spokesman for the DfE told the Sunday Times: “No final decisions have yet been made on the new chief inspector of Ofsted.”

Ofsted has been widely criticised following the death of headteacher Ruth Perry. Labour has pledged to ditch one-word grades for a report card, should it form the next government.

Five things we learned from IfATE’s 2023 annual report

The Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education has published its annual accounts for 2022/23.

This is the fifth annual report from the arms-length public body and entails the organisations expanding responsibilities across the skills sector.

Here are five things we learned from this year’s accounts.

Workforce grew by 20%

IfATE now employs more than 300 civil servants.

Its headcount rose 20 per cent in the year to 328, up from 274 staff members the year before. In its first accounts in 2018/19, the organisation had just 146 staff members.

The recruitment spree this year was the biggest driver for the 18 per cent increase in staff costs to £21.1m. According to the report, the institute conducted an accelerated recruitment campaign was to guarantee “sufficient resource to fulfil delivery obligations”.

Those obligations have been ramped amid new powers given to IfATE this year as part of the Skills and Post-16 Education Bill, which gives them the responsibility to “define and approve new categories of technical qualifications that relate to employer-led standards and occupations in different ways”.

Due to its growing remit, the institute received £29.2 million in financial year 2022/23 in grants from the Department for Education, a rise from £21.5 million the year before.

Jennifer Coupland’s salary bump but smaller bonus

The institute’s chief executive Jennifer Coupland was the highest paid employee at the organisation, earning a salary of up to £135,000 compared to up to £130,000 the year before.

However, her bonus decreased from up to £15,000 in 2021/22 to up to £5,000 this year.

Plus, Coupland took a smaller pension benefit – she was paid £20,000 this year compared to the £35,000 pension contribution she received the year prior.

Overall her total pay package fell from up to £180,000 in 2021/22 to up to £160,000 in 2022/23.

Most board members received fees of between £10,000 and £15,000 – the same as previous years. The chair however, Baroness Ruby McGregor-Smith, received a fee between £25,000 and £30,000.

£95,000 was paid out in exit packages

One exit package, amounting to a total £95,000, was handed out to an unnamed person by the institute in 2022/23.

The package was not spent on compulsory redundancies as there were no redundancies agreed for the year.

The payout was smaller than last year however, where the institute paid out one exit package to the amount of £118,000.

Handing over EQA service to Ofqual saved almost £2m in costs

In June 2022, the institute handed over the management of the external quality assurance service to Ofqual.

This led to a drop in the associated costs by around £1.8 million. It recorded £0.4 million in costs, down from £2.2 million in 2021/22.

It also posted £0.07 million in fee income for the financial year. IfATE now has no ongoing income from the EQA service.

Internal governance review

Due to the organisation’s growing remit, the institute conducted and implemented a governance review, taking effect from April 2022.

This entailed a revised board committee structure of four committees reporting to IfATE board. It consolidated oversight of approvals to a single committee, the approvals policy, and assurance committee.

It then reconstituted the quality assurance committee as the assessment panel and introduced a new board committee to focus on equity, diversity and inclusion.

Colleges to receive nearly £500m to fund staff pay rises

The government will pump nearly £500 million into colleges over the next two years to help fund pay rises, it has been announced.

An agreement has been reached with the Treasury by education secretary Gillian Keegan to fund colleges by an additional £185 million in 2023/24 and £285 million for 2024/25. The new funding will be added through the 16-19 funding formula, FE Week understands.

The Department for Education announced the new funding in a blog post which said the investment will “drive forward skills delivery in the further education sector” and “help colleges and other providers to address key priorities which are of critical importance to our economic growth and prosperity”.

In a letter sent to college leaders this evening, seen by FE Week, Keegan confirmed that extra funding will be delivered through “boosting programme cost weightings for higher-cost subject areas as well as increasing the per-student funding rate” through 16-19 funding.

“We expect to revise [16-19] allocations over the summer for the 2023/24 academic year and updated payments to start in the autumn.

“I am grateful for the vital role that FE colleges, sixth form colleges, and your teachers and support staff play in delivering world class education and the critical skills learners need to progress to good jobs or continue their journey in education,” Keegan wrote.

The decision to use 16-19 funding to inject this extra cash through will leave colleges with larger 19+ student populations disappointed.

Bedford College Group chief executive Ian Pryce said the new funding was “excellent” news, but warned: “Colleges with big adult provision miss out, that’s wrong.”

Using this method also means that ministers can’t force colleges to use this cash for pay awards.

Union negotiations

The injection of cash will mean negotiations between the Association of Colleges (AoC) and the national joint forum of sector trade unions can finally recommence. Talks have so far failed to reach an agreed pay recommendation for FE staff, with the AoC refusing to make a recommendation unless the government stumps up more cash.

The new funding announcement comes on the day FE teacher union UCU issued 117 dispute notices to colleges demanding a 15.4 per cent pay increase, national negotiations on workload and “movement towards” national pay bargaining.

It also follows the government’s decision earlier today to accept a 6.5 per cent pay increase for school teachers as recommended by the School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB).

David Hughes, CEO of the Association of Colleges (AoC), said in a statement that the FE pay rise alongside schools is a “sign of the recognition at the highest levels” of the importance and contribution of colleges and college staff to the economy.

He added that in looking at the detail after the government’s announcement today, it will help the AoC to formulate a new pay recommendation to unions.

Last year, the association made a 2.25 per cent pay recommendation, and after talks with unions was consequently uplifted to 2.5 per cent, and then rejected by unions. College principals said at the time that the 2.5 per cent recommendation was “simply unaffordable”.

Hughes said: “We know how hard the secretary of state has been fighting to win new investment for colleges and how serious she is about supporting the sector, so we’re delighted that she has secured a significant win today.”

“As ever, the devil will be in the detail, and we look forward to seeing more of that next week. This will then help us to be able to formulate a new pay offer, which we hope to be able to do promptly so that colleges can put their offer to their staff and the unions, and the sector can focus on continuing to deliver for the millions of students who study and train in colleges every day.”

Bill Watkin, chief executive of the Sixth Form Colleges Association, said it was the first time that colleges have benefitted from an uplift alongside schools.

“This reflects the government’s commitment to college teachers and lecturers and follows our protracted efforts to secure a better deal for the FE sector,” he said.

“Of course, this is a step in the right direction, but there is still a need to address broader 16-19 funding which is significantly lower than other phases of education, as well as the increasing cost pressures which are the result of stubbornly high inflation rates. It is our hope that we can now enter a more settled period and that students and teachers can focus on the high quality of learning that has always characterised sixth form providers.”

Missed deadline risks thousands of BTEC results

Nearly 3,000 BTEC students risk not getting their final grades next month as their schools and colleges missed the July 5 deadline to submit learner data.

Awarding organisation Pearson said today it has referred 81 schools and colleges to its regulatory team for “potential maladministration” for not providing the information they need to guarantee grades on time on results day, August 17.

A third of the 2,881 students whose results are at risk are in three schools or colleges.

Pearson would not name the schools and colleges involved, citing confidentiality in the maladministration process, but told FE Week that 38 were schools, 37 were further education colleges, 3 were sixth form colleges and 3 were university technical colleges.

A Pearson spokeperson said: “In order for us to be able to issue final results to students, we asked schools and colleges to provide crucial student data by the deadline of 5 July – to submit a claim for their students wanting to receive a result in August and provide us with the marks for the coursework assessed by their teachers.

“To date, 81 schools and colleges, who offer Level 3 BTEC qualifications in England, have not yet provided us with the majority of information we need to complete eligibility checks for 2881 learner results. We have therefore taken the difficult decision to refer them to our regulatory team for potential maladministration.”

Pearson issued centres with a series of deadlines for data this year, alongside other vocational and technical qualification awarding organisations, following investigations by exams regulator Ofqual into results delays affecting tens of thousands of students last summer.

Sanctions for maladministration can be severe. They range from mandatory action plans and training, to removal of centre approval.

Schools and colleges can come out of maladministration proceedings if issues are resolved quickly, Pearson said.

The July 5 deadline was in place so Pearson had teacher assessed coursework marks, which make up around 60 per cent of final grades, in good time. Students with missing data are classed as “ineligible” so risk not receiving their final grades.

“We are highlighting this now, well ahead of results day, as there is still time to resolve the situation,” Pearson said.

Government scraps plans to limit ‘employment only’ adult education outcomes

The Department for Education has reversed its position on ending funding for adult education courses that are not directly linked to employment outcomes, following outcry from the sector.

In its response to a consultation on adult education funding and accountability, published today, the department said it has “revised the outcomes” that courses should deliver and have reinstated improvements to health and wellbeing, family learning and community integration as acceptable outcomes.

Susan Pember, policy director at Holex, who led the charge calling for this change, said: “The Adult Community Education Sector is really pleased that government has listened and the response now recognises the importance of wider outcomes, such as mental health and well-being, which helps support adult learners who are often furthest from the workplace.”

The government has also decided to rename non-qualification provision to now be called tailored learning. The change will impact community learning, non-regulated provision and new “employer-facing innovative provision”.

The changes will come when the adult education budget is replaced by a new adult skills fund in 2024/25.

Reforms to adult education funding come following the government’s skills for jobs white paper, published in January 2021, which aimed to simplify the funding landscape and improve outcomes for learners.

However subsequent consultation proposals caused an uproar among adult education leaders.

Specifically, initial plans to scrap funding for courses that offered health and community related outcomes in favour of just employment-related outcomes risked displacing over 300,000 vulnerable learners, according to sector leaders.

Campaigners argued that narrowing what could be funded to just employment-focused courses would mean adults would lose out on opportunities to take community and family learning courses with social, health and well-being benefits.

DfE said today: “We recognise the wider benefits that such tailored learning can bring, both in providing a stepping stone to more formal learning and in providing responsive skills training to meet employer needs. We have therefore revised the outcomes that tailored learning can support to ensure provision can carry on supporting wider outcomes.”

It goes on to say that while the purpose of the tailored learning element of the new adult skills fund will primarily be for progression to employment or further learning, it “can also support wider outcomes such as social well-being and improved mental health.”

Stephen Evans, chief executive at Learning and Work Institute, said he was “particularly pleased to see the government recognise the purposes of learning beyond work.”

“Of course, there’s much further to go in terms of simplifying a complex system and to restore funding which is £1 billion lower in real terms than it was in 2010,” he added.

Tailored learning not for leisure

Adult education providers will be given a maximum threshold they can spend on tailored learning provision alongside their 2024/25 adult skills fund allocations. The exact proportion of the allocation that can be spent on tailored learning will be based on historical delivery of similar provision, like community learning and non-regulated formula funding.

Providers without existing tailored learning equivalent provision will be able to use up to 5 per cent of their adult skills fund allocation on those courses if they wish.

The term tailored learning will now be used to describe what was previously known as non-qualification provision. It includes what is now known as AEB community learning, non-regulated and new “employer-facing innovative provision” to tailored learning.

Providers will be encouraged through guidance to use this fund to support learners access employment or progress to more learning. But it can also be used to “support wider outcomes, as the current system does.”

Today’s document is light on detail but promises further guidance. However, it describes those “wider outcomes” as “improving health and wellbeing, equipping parents/carers to support their child’s learning and develop stronger more integrated communities.”

“We are grateful to Robert Halfon and Gillian Keegan for listening and for this progressive set of changes which should put adult community education in a good place for the next 10 years,” Pember said.

DfE explicitly states though that tailored learning, and the wider adult skills fund “cannot be used to fund provision for ‘leisure’ purposes only.”

Learner support u-turn

As well as the previously reported delay to bring in the adult skills fund, and the reversal on tailored learning outcomes, DfE has shelved its plans to allocate a fixed sum for additional needs funding.

The idea was that providing additional needs funding in this way, based on historic delivery, would give providers more flexibility because they wouldn’t have to “earn” the funding as they do now.

However, a massive 48 per cent of consultation respondents disagreed with this proposal and instead favoured continuing with the current additional needs funding arrangements.

DfE said: “Reflecting on the responses we received to these questions we have concluded that making the change we proposed at this time would not significantly benefit providers or learners. We will therefore continue with the existing arrangements for funding learner and learning support.”

New funding bands

Adult education courses will be funded through a system of funding bands with a new set of uplifts in place for priority courses from 2024/25. Funding rates will be set along five new hourly bands that range from £6 to £12 depending on the subject. The hourly band is then multiplied by a qualification’s guided learning hours to give a funding rate.

DfE’s consultation response reveals that slightly more respondents disagreed with this new funding approach, 36 per cent, than agreed, 32 per cent. The remaining 32 per cent were unsure.

The adult skills fund

From 2024/25, the adult education budget (AEB) and the free courses for jobs (FCFJ) funding streams will merge as planned to become the adult skills fund. This will apply to the funding devolved authorities receive from central government, as well as to what providers in non-devolved areas receive directly from the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA).

DfE said they are still interested in moving to a lagged funding model, similar to 16-18 funding, but a timeline for next steps hasn’t been set out.

Multi-year funding

DfE will go ahead with plans to set provider and devolved authority allocations and funding rates for a whole spending review period so providers can plan ahead.

Mayoral combined authorities have already been given their 2023/24 adult education budgets, but they will “shortly” be given provisional budgets for 2024/25. Similarly, ESFA funded providers will get their 2024/25 provisional allocations “early in the 2023/24 academic year” using delivery data from 2021/22.

National model for devolved authorities

The department plans to introduce a new national framework for devolved authorities, like the mayoral combined authorities, from 2024/25.

Currently, around 60 per cent of the adult education budget is devolved to combined authorities, with the rest going to providers in non-devolved areas through the ESFA. A number of new deals in the pipeline means even more AEB will be devolved in the coming years.

DfE said they welcome the responsiveness to local needs that devolution brings but are concerned about the increasing complexity this poses for learners and providers.

Its solution is a new national model for devolved adult education funding which will be introduced alongside the new adult skills fund.

Combined authorities will be consulted again, but it is proposed that the model will set funding rates for qualifications, suggest an approach for non-qualification provision, provide guidance for funding learners with additional needs and provide for lagged funding for “core aspects” of provision.

Skills minister Robert Halfon said: “Social justice must be the beating heart of our education policy and delivering a brilliant skills system is key to this.

“That’s why we’re rewiring the skills system, reforming funding and holding providers to account to ensure top quality courses across the board and help people into better, higher-paying jobs, no matter where in the country they live.”

DfE’s full response to the funding and accountability reform consultation can be read in full here.

Over 400 students and apprentices chosen for 2023 WorldSkills UK national finals

Over 400 students and apprentices have won their place in the WorldSkills UK National Finals from competing in regional qualifiers across the UK in an array of disciplines such as metal fabrication and cyber security.

WorldSkills UK has today published the list of finalists through to the prestigious national skills competitions who will compete across 51 categories to win their chance at joining the WorldSkills UK international development programme to compete globally at the WorldSkills 2026.

View the full list of WorldSkills UK 2023 national finalists

The finalists were drawn from a cohort of 6,000 young people who registered to showcase their skills across disciplines such as digital construction, health and social care, and additive manufacturing.

The 442 remaining contenders will now enter the final stage of the national skills competition, which will be hosted at colleges, independent training providers and universities across Greater Manchester from November 14 to 17.

Meanwhile, the industrial robotics competition, run in partnership with Fanuc, will take place between November 14 to 16 at Fanuc’s headquarters in Coventry.

The medallists will be announced at an awards ceremony on November 17 at the Bridgewater Hall, Manchester.

WorldSkills UK has set up skill-specific training days to support the national finalists and has also made online resources accessible for free on the WorldSkills UK Learning Lab.

Ben Blackledge, chief executive of WorldSkills UK said: “I offer my congratulations to all of the national finalists. We know our competition-based training programmes deliver real value and benefits to the young person taking part, but the programmes also provide opportunities for the development of their educators and trainers in delivering training that meets the latest industry standards.

“The young people that take part in our national programme are a true inspiration and demonstrate the skills we have in the UK. As well as giving them the chance to shine we will be sharing their career journeys and success stories, so we can inspire more young people, from all backgrounds, to see that an apprenticeship or technical education is a first-class route to success in work and life.”

The Team UK squad has already been selected for the 47th WorldSkills international competition, taking place in Lyon, France, in September 2024. The team is currently in training for the competition.

Skills minister Robert Halfon said: “Congratulations and best of luck to all of the apprentices and students competing in the national finals this year and showcasing their exceptional talents in a diverse range of skill disciplines, from manufacturing and engineering to health and social care.

“WorldSkills UK not only provides an unparalleled opportunity to hone your skills and climb the ladder of opportunity towards a better and brighter future, but it is also a chance to celebrate and champion vocational courses and the further education sector.”

Feature image photo credit: Institute of Motor Industry

‘Almost all’ B&M apprentices left training, Ofsted finds

The majority of apprentices on one of the country’s largest discount retailer’s apprenticeship scheme have abandoned their training due to “ineffective initial advice and guidance”, Ofsted inspectors have said.

In an Ofsted report published today, inspectors graded B&M Retail’s apprenticeship programme as ‘inadequate’ for not planning a “sufficiently ambitious” programme, leaving apprentices to either stop their training or leave employment of B&M entirely.

During its late May inspection, the watchdog recorded just 17 apprentices aged over 19 at B&M retail sites across the country – a huge cut from the 167 apprentices recorded at its monitoring visit in February 2022. Apprentices were studying the level 5 operations or departmental manager apprenticeship standard, the level 3 team leader or supervisor standard or the level 2 customer service practitioner standard.

The report rated the employer provider ‘inadequate’ in three areas and ‘requires improvement’ in behaviour and attitudes and personal development.

“Almost all apprentices that started their apprenticeship have left,” the report said, adding that apprentices were “ill-advised and unsupported.”

Those who remained on the programme enjoy their work “despite their disrupted learning and falling behind with their work,” inspectors found.

Inspectors slammed leaders’ failures to identify and improve the quality of education and training. Leaders had acknowledged that apprentices were leaving their training, because of “ineffective initial advice and guidance and apprentices leaving the organisation to seek alternative employment after the pandemic.”

“The quality of training has declined,” the report said. It added that while the employer provider conducted learner surveys, it did not analyse or act upon the findings to improve provision.

Apprentices were ‘ill-advised and unsupported’

During the monitoring visit in February 2022, the retailer had 167 apprentices in learning and were found to be making reasonable progress.

Inspectors said at the time that leaders have a “clear strategy” to implement an ambitious curriculum, and apprentices were motivated to achieve the highest grades they could.

“For the very few apprentices who have successfully completed their final assessments, most have progressed within the organisation with promotion,” it added.

But following its monitoring visit in February 2022, leaders reviewed the apprenticeship programme and took the strategic decision not to recruit apprentices onto the current programme, according to the full inspection report today.

Inspectors praised field trainers’ use of knowledge and experience of the retail sector into the curriculum, but added that they do not use the information gathered on apprentices’ starting points to plan for learning substantial new knowledge and skills. This led to apprentices’ progress towards achieving their qualifications becoming too slow.

B&M Retail was approached for comment.

Babington to cut over 100 staff in ‘strategic realignment’

Around 120 jobs are at risk at one of the country’s largest training providers in a “strategic realignment” affecting its apprenticeships and adult education courses.

Babington Business College, an independent training provider, will scrap its adult education budget portfolio, including its digital skills bootcamps and sector work academy programme (SWAP) courses, as well as its apprenticeships training offer in the property, financial services and retail sectors.

It becomes the latest large independent training provider to exit the adult education budget market.

Mark Basham, Babington’s new chief executive officer, said: “This change is essential to continuing to deliver on our purpose to develop better futures for organisations, individuals, and the communities in which we operate.”

The company said its “strategic realignment” is in response to market demand but comes following significant hits on its budget following the recent Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) AEB procurement and the scrapping of traineeships.

The organisation’s restructure will see it focus on apprenticeships, professional qualifications and commercial courses in “core areas of demand”, Basham said, through “specialist academies” in accountancy, HR, leadership, data, and business.

However, its 23 digital skills bootcamps will come to an end. Babington’s bootcamp offer included 20 online programmes offered nationally in digital leadership and data analysis. It had three bootcamps in London in digital marketing, introduction to coding and introduction to project management skills.

FE Week understands that around 120 staff are at risk. Babington has promised that all learners on affected courses will be able to complete with the provider.

Babington is still yet to file accounts for its 2021/2022 financial year. In 2020/21 however it reported it had 374 employees, so this announcement could mean a loss of around a third of its workforce.

The accounts stated a turnover of £26.4 million that year.

Basham said industries are requiring “agile and continuous skills programmes” in professional service areas like finance, people management and data.

“Against this context, our decision to simplify, strengthen, and refocus our organisation on these core areas of demand – simultaneously making improvements in our own operations to enhance the customer experience, drive sales, and position the company for long-term success,” he said.

This comes just two months after the sudden departure of its former chief executive, David Marsh, and just a week and a half after a new CEO and chair was announced.

Marsh’s departure came several months after Babington was sold by RJD Partners in December 2022 to Unigestion, a Switzerland-based private equity firm.

FE Week revealed last week that Babington was one of several big-name training providers that did not secure a national ESFA adult education budget contract for 2023/24.

Its AEB allocation for this year was worth just over £1.2 million according to DfE data as well as nearly £1 million allocated for 16-18 traineeships. The government has scrapped traineeships from August due to years of low participation.

Government data for 2021/22, the last full year available, shows Babington delivered 45 apprenticeship standards across a range of sectors. Its most popular apprenticeships, level 3 team leader and level 3 customer service specialist, which clocked up just over 600 starts between them, would appear to be safe.

Apprenticeships in sectors Babington will exit include the level 2 junior estate agent and level 3 housing and property management, which had 330 starts last year.

Babington hasn’t had a full Ofsted inspection since March 2015, when it achieved a ‘good’ rating.